A Tumble Into A What If
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1309: While working with Puck at cleaning pools one day, Ewan has an accident that puts him in touch with a long lost part of his life. - Beiste and Ewan series. Not Rory But Damian, see inside.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 62nd cycle. Now cycle 63!_

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**"A Tumble Into A What If"  
(Beiste &) Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty), Puck, Kathleen & Glenn Healy  
Beiste & Ewan series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

Being on the job with Puck, Ewan had needed some time to adjust, to not go about his days having to remind himself why he was doing this. It wasn't so much the job that was the problem. Cleaning pools was not the hardest thing, all things considered, and the money was good, which was what he needed. But being there meant having to deal with the clients, and this was a far cry from the shoe store. Puck's clients all seemed to be women, of an age with their mothers if not older, and they would look on to the pair of them like they'd enjoy nothing more than to jump on them. He was starting to understand what he'd meant about the accent, too. The moment the women would hear him, they would start to ask him questions, and not one of them had not made him feel uncomfortable in one way or another.

Besides Puck and Mike, no one knew about his cleaning work. He didn't want Sugar to know, or the rest of Glee Club, and he certainly did not want his aunt knowing.

"Hey, man, you just keep working, alright? I'll be back in a few minutes," Puck told him, and Ewan watched him head back toward the house.

"Just don't tell me why," he mumbled to himself, moving along the edge of the pool.

"Keep an eye on the kid, will you?" was the last thing he heard from Puck before he disappeared through the door. Ewan looked over to the side of the yard where their client's five-year-old son was tossing a small basketball at a low net. He'd been hearing the ball thumping against the ground the whole time he was there, and it hadn't dawned on him after a while, as he kept cleaning, that he couldn't hear the ball anymore… not until it hit him in the head.

The next thing he knew, he was falling headlong into the pool, and the world went dark.

It took him a moment to situate himself when his eyes opened next. He could hear voices, but it was like an echo, far away but growing closer with every second. He was hearing his name being called, and his face was wet, it was…

"Hold on, hold…" he reached up, trying to stop the dog from licking him. As soon as he'd touched it though, there was something about it, something familiar. He'd looked up, and the dog stared back, not just any dog but his own dog. "Sally?" He sat up, shocked, putting his arms around the giddy pet. "What are you doing here, girl?" Ewan felt like he might cry. He didn't know how he'd gotten out of the pool and into the grass, not that he cared or…"

"Did you hear me calling? I said it was time for dinner."

He hadn't heard her voice in so long, but he knew it immediately, and he felt like he really was falling apart, like he would look up and realize he was dreaming. Only when he looked up she was standing there, at the back door… their house, not the client's house in Lima, but his old home, in Ireland, with his dog… and his dear old mom, standing there, smiling.

"Mom?" he scrambled to his feet, touching his head. This had to be a dream, she was dead, they both were, he knew that, only… He walked toward her, and when he touched her, she was real. Was he imagining she was real? He didn't care. He threw his arms around her and held her near.

"Did you miss me that much, I was only gone an hour," Kathleen Healy laughed, hugging her son.

"Felt like longer," he told her, squeezing his eyes to keep from letting the tears get out.

"Well, I love you, too. Now come, it'll be cold." He pulled back, looking at her. She had that smile, that same smile like his aunt, and he'd known that from the start, only seeing it now it felt different. He had dreamed about things like this, all these months, of course he had… Being home, with his mother, his father, his dog… None of it had felt this real, and deep down he knew it wasn't, but the deception was good enough that he almost didn't care. "Look out, Glenn, he's in a state," Kathleen had announced as they walked back into the house, and Ewan had heard his father's name just as he saw him at the stove, spoon in hand and ready to dig into the pan. "Put that down," his mother scolded, and Ewan wondered if he was smiling or crying… They were here.

"I didn't touch a thing," Glenn promised, stepping away from the stove and toward his son. "What's happening now?" he asked, just as Ewan moved to hold him. "Been drinking, have you?" he was just as startled as Kathleen had been.

"Just happy," he swore, trying to get a hold of himself.

"So I gathered," Glenn led him to the table so they could sit. Ewan could feel Sally at his heels, and he reached out to scratch at her ears, the way he always would. It was like no time had passed at all, just a regular day. _It had been a regular day, too, the one where they died._

"We have news," Kathleen announced as dinner was served. It took him a moment to stop watching them and realize they were talking to him.

"What… what news?"

"Well, you know how we always talk about going to visit your aunt in Ohio, but we can never get around to do it?" she asked, and he sat up. He'd almost forgotten his aunt Shannon in all this. "We've been putting money aside for some time now." _You, too?_ "And we've finally reached our goal, which means in a couple of weeks, we'll go on vacation, the three of us, and you'll get to meet her face to face."

"I have met her," he corrected by reflex.

"That's right, you did, but it was a long time ago, far too long, and we are going to change that. She'll be so happy to see you," Kathleen smiled that proud smile of hers, and his stomach twisted. It was only a matter of time before he woke up from this dream, and no matter how real it had felt, he was going to lose them all over again.

THE END/TO BE CONTINUED (DAY 1330)

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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